NFL Rumors: Washington Redskins Unlikely To Add Another Running Back
Derrius Guice entered the season as the Washington Redskins’ likely starting running back as a rookie. He had all the talent in the world coming out of LSU and was expected to make an immediate impact. Unfortunately, the Redskins lost their talented back in the first preseason game of the year to a torn ACL.
While it was a blow to the backfield, the Redskins are not panicking. News broke yesterday that Washington could look to sign a veteran running back like Adrian Peters, as previously reported by Inquisitr, but that does not appear to be the route the team will take.
According to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Redskins are not expected to add another running back ahead of the regular season. Head coach Jay Gruden touched on that subject in an interview.
“We have guys here that can play. We drafted Derrius because he was the best player we thought at the time of the draft… not because we weren’t satisfied with the backs we have.”
At this point in time, the Redskins appear comfortable to head into the season with names like Rob Kelly, Chris Thompson, and Semaje Perine in the backfield. That will give them plenty of talent to work with. All three showed flashes of major production last season in a running back by committee backfield.
.@Redskins RB Derrius Guice suffers torn ACL: https://t.co/VegJwiWj4C pic.twitter.com/o1dcUjCUO4
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2018
New starting quarterback Alex Smith had the best season of his career last year with the Kansas City Chiefs. A big part of his success was because of Chiefs’ rookie running back Kareem Hunt. He was able to force defenses to respect the run and ripped of multiple big plays that opened up the passing game.
Washington will need to figure out how to give Smith that same kind of support this season.
Perine, who was a rookie last season, and veteran Rob Kelly seem like the best bets for major playing time. The rookie finished his first NFL season with 603 yards and a touchdown on 175 carries. Kelly dealt with injury issues all season long and ended up with just 194 yards and three touchdowns on 62 carries.
Thompson, who is coming off of a broken leg suffered late last season, was the most dynamic of the Redskins’ running backs. He totaled 294 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while racking up 39 receptions for 510 yards and four touchdowns.
Gruden and company are remaining calm despite a disappointing injury and at this time do not appear to have interest in adding another running back to the roster.
